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Because there's a random fact for every occasion.

Monthly Archives: September 2014

You’re in a crowded bar with a few friends and a lot of strangers. Almost everyone is wearing a smartwatch, and these watches are all equipped with Near Field Communication (NFC). This technology allows your device to communicate directly with other devices—most importantly the other smartwatches.

NFC technology has existed in Android phones for some time now, but when Apple added it to their iPhone 6, the technology really took off.

You have a new social media app on your phone. And so do a lot of other people in the bar. It does a couple cool things:

Someone catches your eye in the bar, and you walk over to her. You don’t actually make personal contact, but you get your watch close enough to her watch that it activates the app. A picture of your face and some basic information pops up on her watch. She takes a look and decides she is interested. So she swipes right and your watch indicates that she’s interested. Her face and name also appear up on your watch. You then find the girl again and approach her, but this time making direct contact and starting a conversation.

If your face pops up on her watch and she’s not interested? She swipes left, you’re informed she’s not interested and you forget the interaction. If you’re out and you don’t want people bothering you, simply turn the app off.

Imagine something else: In a bar with 100 people, a few dozen have turned an app on that indicates they are interested in meeting and mingling. You’ve indicated your gender preference and as you walk through the bar, you’re notified if you come close to someone else who has also indicated they’re interested in mingling. Her face appears on your watch and you approach her (in a very gentlemanly fashion, of course).

Maybe she’s interested in you once you meet and maybe she’s not. But before you approach her, you at least know she is interested in potentially meeting someone.

These are certainly not deeply emotional apps. And I’m not saying they don’t have potential downfalls. But this could be the future with wearable technology.